The present invention relates to an integrated apparatus for detecting a gear shift, and more particularly, to an integrated apparatus for detecting a gear shift in which a switch and a gear shifting detection controller that detects a sports mode of a vehicle are integrally implemented.
A gear shifting controller is an apparatus that is installed between a clutch and a propeller shaft and appropriately changes power of an engine based on a variation of a vehicle driving state, and is provided with a gear shifting manipulation mechanism that allows the gear shifting controller to be operated by a manipulation of a driver.
In a manual transmission, a gear shifting detection controller is mounted to provide a gear shift feel of an automatic transmission, and the gear shifting detection controller refers to a technology that provides both improved fuel efficiency and a sport mode driving performance of the manual transmission, and driving convenience and smoother gear shifting performance of the automatic transmission.
The gear shifting detection controller may be divided into a wet type and a dry type. First, in the wet type, a clutch drum is disposed, which has a structure similar to a structure of a wet type multiple plate switch used in the automatic transmission, at an input end side of the gear shifting controller, and is configured to transmit or block power to allow power of an engine to be used as an input of the gear shifting controller.
However, in the dry type, an outer clutch that has a substantially large effective radius and two inner clutches having a small radius are disposed to be parallel to each other in a structure similar to a clutch of the gear shifting controller, and when first, third, and fifth speed stages (odd number stages) are driven, the outer clutch is directly connected, and when second, fourth, and sixth speed stages (even number stages) are driven, the inner clutch is directly connected, to transmit or block power to allow power of the engine to be used as an input of the gear shifting controller.
Meanwhile, the automatic transmission transmits power using the oil in the transmission, and thus generally has lower fuel efficiency due to higher energy loss than the manual transmission that has direct power transmission mechanism between gears.
To supplement the drawbacks of the automatic transmission, a sports mode gear shifting stage (e.g., M gear shifting stage) in which a shift lever is manipulated in a sports mode in a vertical manner is separately provided in addition to a main gear shifting stage that includes a parking stage (P), a reversing stage (R), a neutral stage (N), and a driving stage (D).
When the gear shifting stage is converted into the sports mode gear shifting stage by a shift lever manipulation of the driver, a method of detecting that the gear shifting stage is converted into the sports mode gear shifting stage is implemented using a switch that is operated together with one side of a lower end of the shift lever. In addition, a gear shifting detection controller and a switch, among configurations for detecting gear shifting in the related art, share inherent component characteristics in that the gear shifting detection controller and the switch are operated in the sports mode, but the gear shifting detection controller and the switch are separately provided. Accordingly, bracket bases that accommodate, respectively, the gear shifting detection controller and the switch may be more complex, connectors and wires may be required to transmit signals in relation to the gear shifting detection controller and the switch, and insert injection molded components for coupling the gear shifting detection controller and the switch may be required.
Therefore, in the related art, production cost may increase due to production and assembly processes for providing the gear shifting detection controller and the switch to the configuration for detecting a gear shifting may be complex. Furthermore, since the switch of the related art for detecting whether the mode is converted into the sports mode selectively accommodates a protrusion positioned at one side of the shift lever based on movement of the position of the shift lever, a guide structure inside a coupling aperture for accommodating the protrusion and the accommodated protrusion come into contact with each other, and contact noise may occur between the guide structure and the protrusion.